We explain Sweden
Buying an apartment is one of the most serious steps in life. It requires a lot of planning, savings and to be as prepared as possible. On this part two of the series, I will talk about the mortgage and downpayment. To read part 1 click here. Know your Purchase Ability. Before rushing into apartment […]
Presented by The Swedish Teacher Here at the Newbie Guide we work in an unholy mess of English, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic. So we know first hand the struggle of getting the “small details” of a language right. On top of that we often get emails and messages asking about places and apps to […]
Have you considered moving to Sweden alone? Are you worried about the language, culture, job opportunities, cost of living etc? It can be extremely daunting to move from one place to another. However, life is short but remember that preparation is key and adaptation comes next. Do your homework, measure the risk and reward. If […]
Presented by The Swedish Teacher Did you ever construct a sentence like “Jag åkte där” only to be corrected? You are not alone 🙂 Swedish for “here,” “there,” “home” etc. come in two versions. You have to choose between “hit” and “här,” “dit” and “där” and “hem” and “hemma.” It might seem completely random when […]
If you’ve arrived in Sweden on a visa that doesn’t allow for you to obtain a personal number, all is not lost. It can be a challenge to access certain services, such as banking, the library, and signing up for a gym. With a little effort and the right provider, you can not only survive […]
In my last Newbie post, I shared the reasons I chose to learn Swedish (if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you do). After weeks of living in Stockholm, I was tired of apologizing for my lack of Swedish language skills. I needed to make a change, so I enrolled in a twice-weekly class. […]
I’ve been living in Sweden for a few months now and while I am far from fluent I have heard more than my fair share of Swedish and have begun stumbling through pronouncing a few sentences of my own. While Swedish bears remarkable similarities to English, German and the other Scandinavian languages, it is a […]
Don’t speak a single word of Swedish yet? No problem! Everyone speaks English (but all the signs are in Swedish) ‘Is this a cucumber or a zucchini??’ I wondered, as I tried my best to figure out the Swedish on the label. After standing in front of the produce for an embarrassingly long time, I […]
The other day I received a request for language courses. The email started off with Respected Madame. This made me laugh. At that moment, I had just locked myself in the bathroom to escape my children – and to check my email, and I was trying to shut out the banging on the door. So […]
In the first few weeks that I lived in Stockholm, I started every conversation the same way: with a perplexed look while uttering the phrase I’m sorry, I don’t speak Swedish. From sales clerks to receptionists, I have apologized to pretty much everyone in the city. After my one-millionth apology in a three-week span (a […]